Now Commenting On:

CC on schedule for Tuesday rotation return

CC on schedule for Tuesday rotation return

NEW YORK -- CC Sabathia threw 30 pitches in a simulated game on Friday at Yankee Stadium and remains on line to return to the Yankees' starting rotation on Tuesday against the Blue Jays.

Sabathia is coming back from a mild groin strain suffered in a June 24 start against the Mets at Citi Field. He said that he was relieved to only miss two starts in New York's rotation.

"Anytime you're hurt, you never know; you always wonder if you're going to be 100 percent again," Sabathia said. "It felt good to be able to go out and throw a [bullpen session] on Tuesday, and to throw today and feel fine. I'm excited."

Sabathia sat down during the session to simulate an inning change, and said he is not expecting any pitch-count limitations in his next start.

"That's something we'll have to talk about, how many pitches we'd let him go," manager Joe Girardi said. "Some of it depends on how hard the innings are and if you feel that he's laboring. I wouldn't expect to throw him 110, 115 [pitches]."

The left-hander is 9-3 with a 3.45 ERA in 15 starts and said that he has been impressed with the Yankees' resiliency thus far. New York opened the second half of the season with a seven-game lead over second-place Baltimore in the American League East.

"We've had all kind of injuries, been through a lot of adversity, so to be able to be in the position that we're in now -- it feels good," Sabathia said.